An "interesting" day (long and ranty)

[Ophbalance]

This is the stove we had when I was a kid https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...6d978faa73.jpg . That's just being to be touched! It's was on a raised platform that was gated when I was a toddler.

[WishfulSpirit]

Never thought about it that way. Just to add to my story of my childhood inability to heed the phrase "don't touch," my first word was "hot." Which I said after touching the stove. It was an electric one so it was insulated and I didn't get burned, but still shows you what kind of kid I was. I'm surprised my parents are still sane.

[Aria]

Depends on the kid. Neither my sister or I are idiots, but if mom told her "don't touch" she didn't. I had to find out why for myself. I have few scars on my fingers and I'm lucky my hands still work. Some kids are just Like That.

Although, you know, I was thinking... it might partly be the times. When I was a kid, we didn't have anything but REAL FIRE! If you touched a fire you were going to get burned.

Now? We have TV's showing flaming logs, digital displays, all kinds of things that LOOK like fire but don't hurt. A little kid could be very confused by that.

[notalwaysright]

Depends on the kid. Neither my sister or I are idiots, but if mom told her "don't touch" she didn't. I had to find out why for myself. I have few scars on my fingers and I'm lucky my hands still work. Some kids are just Like That.

Exactly. My parents never thought about baby-proofing the stove because I must not have been interested in it. Or if I was, I listened and didn't touch. But the lady who brought this up to my mom was appalled by just the idea that the stove had been left unprotected. Seriously, it's not one size fits all with this stuff. I do think that if kids exist in a padded bubble their whole childhood... Well, that just can't end well.

[WishfulSpirit]

Depends on the kid. Neither my sister or I are idiots, but if mom told her "don't touch" she didn't. I had to find out why for myself. I have few scars on my fingers and I'm lucky my hands still work. Some kids are just Like That.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Growing up we had (have, it's still there) a wood stove. We didn't think anything of it, but after I was grown and in my 20s, someone offhandedly asked my mom how she child-proofed it when I was little. *silence* My parents didn't even think of it, lol! ... The lady was horrified, and said that her kids would have been terribly burned. She then glared at my mom, like "how dare your child not want to touch the fire!"

Well, I'm guessing you were a kid before the movie Idiocracy started becoming a documentary, and her kids came along later to help the movie change genres.

[Terza]

Growing up we had (have, it's still there) a wood stove. We didn't think anything of it, but after I was grown and in my 20s, someone offhandedly asked my mom how she child-proofed it when I was little. *silence* My parents didn't even think of it, lol! They did other stuff, like light sockets, and had a doggy gate at the top of the stairs, but nothing around the stove. The lady was horrified, and said that her kids would have been terribly burned. She then glared at my mom, like "how dare your child not want to touch the fire!"

[Snipped}

I grew up with a open fire which heated the living room, and also heated the hot water for the radiator system.
There was a fireguard, but it was more for stopping logs rolling out of the fire than preventing us from burning ourselves. I presume my parents just warned us/stopped us if we tried to touch it.

Although, the dog did almost start a fire once! My mum was doing the washing up, and noticed she could smell smoke - more than necessary. When she went into the living room, Dog had taken a piece of wood from the fire, and was sitting on his cushion chewing one end. The other end was an ember, and had burnt a hole in the cushion! Luckily, Mum took it away before there was more than a hole, so no real damage done.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

PS: I LOVE the gas fireplace. The desk where I work is really close to the doors (I estimate less than 15 feet between me and them) and my part of the lobby gets uncomfortably cold (though not dangerous or anything) in the winter. The fireplace is not only providing nice ambiance, it's helping take off the chill.

I have an electric one in my office that's also an entertainment center and it is great for those chilly days.

And if I don't want to use the heat but turn on the flames, I have a button on the front that allows me to do that. Great for those warm evenings where I want the ambience w/out the heat.

[notalwaysright]

Growing up we had (have, it's still there) a wood stove. We didn't think anything of it, but after I was grown and in my 20s, someone offhandedly asked my mom how she child-proofed it when I was little. *silence* My parents didn't even think of it, lol! They did other stuff, like light sockets, and had a doggy gate at the top of the stairs, but nothing around the stove. The lady was horrified, and said that her kids would have been terribly burned. She then glared at my mom, like "how dare your child not want to touch the fire!"

That being said, it's probably good that it's up high, if nothing else it's less of a liability for your hotel. Snow guards are pretty common, I'm surprised they aren't already installed, if you are in a place with that much snow. They are common here, and we hardly get any snow to speak of. It might (might!) even lower the insurance rate.

[WishfulSpirit]

Well, toddlers especially get away from parents SO easily and checking in requires some attention. So I wouldn't be the least bit surprised. I would only wonder if there was a nicer way to child-proof it... a fence? But then the complainer would complain about that too.

I checked and the current fireplace actually has a nearly-invisible screen 2 inches from the glass. That provides some buffer room so nobody gets burned. The elevated fireplace does look more modern and is easier to clean around too, so maybe that's why they put it up there.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

And today's off to a running start: Quick question: if you go to the front desk of a hotel and nobody is there, do you A: read the "be right back" sign and wait a few minutes for the desk agent who is actually ON SHIFT to finish helping another guest, B: stand there yelling "hello? HELLO?" or C: walk behind the counter and into the back office and demand the person taking off her coat and changing into her work shoes come help you even though she's obviously not on the clock yet? Well the first guest I saw today chose both B and C. It's going to be a great day!

Oh HELL no!

You come into an EMPLOYEES ONLY AREA and you WILL incur my wrath! I do NOT respond well to invasion of space.

[Aria]

I'll have to ask a coworker for Issue the Third stories, I wasn't here before they changed it and that's what he said happened WAY too often.

Well, toddlers especially get away from parents SO easily and checking in requires some attention. So I wouldn't be the least bit surprised. I would only wonder if there was a nicer way to child-proof it... a fence? But then the complainer would complain about that too.

[WishfulSpirit]

PS: I LOVE the gas fireplace. The desk where I work is really close to the doors (I estimate less than 15 feet between me and them) and my part of the lobby gets uncomfortably cold (though not dangerous or anything) in the winter. The fireplace is not only providing nice ambiance, it's helping take off the chill.

[WishfulSpirit]

I suggusted it to the GM with a printout of what the teeth things look like and they may actually be going that route! The chief engineer even asked if knew anyone who could give them an estimate for doing it (I don't, but I'd imagine roofers in Denver know about them...it does snow here on a fairly regular basis).

To quote Zoidburg "Hooray I'm useful!"

[peach2play]

We have a metal roof with the teeth things on there and they really do keep the snow from just falling down and hitting you in the head.